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Americas; Miracles Are Not Enough

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This series is a revealing examination of the contemporary history, politics, economics, religion and social structures of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. From Mexico to the Malvinas, the series presents personal stories that highlight the issues behind the limited images and incomplete information that capture public attention in newspapers and popular magazines. Raul Julia narrates. 101 THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS--Sixty years ago, Argentina was one of the 10 richest nations in the world and seemed destined to be a global power. This first program looks at the social and political forces that cheated Argentina of this role and left it to suffer through periods of repressive governments and hard economic times. It is a story that was echoed by much of the rest of Latin America.
102 CAPITAL SINS--This segment looks at the rapid economic growth in the late 1960's and early 1970's, spotlighting the methods Brazil's rulers chose to develop that country and how their choices affected the lives of ordinary Brazilians. The program also examines the stubborn hold of poverty and economic stagnation in the region, and their human and environmental costs.
103 CONTINENT ON THE MOVE--This episode examines the causes and effects of one of the most important forces transforming the Americas: The migration of vast numbers of people within the region. This program is set in Mexico, where migration has moved people across borders, and from rural villages to congested cities.
104 MIRRORS OF THE HEART--Questions of racial, ethnic and national identity run deep in the Caribbean and Latin America. This episode explores shifting ethnic and racial definitions in the region, looking at Bolivia, a nation with a rich Indian tradition, and Hispaniola, an island divided into two nations--Haiti and the Dominican Republic--with different cultural heritages and attitudes toward their African roots.
105 IN WOMEN'S HANDS--In the last quarter-century, the turbulent events in Chile's history--the election and overthrow of socialist President Salvador Allende, the Pinochet dictatorship, a devastating economic crisis--have meant that women of every social class have chosen, or been forced, to adopt new roles. This program is the saga of some of these women, including a town mayor, a doctor, a farm worker and a mother of thirteen.
106 MIRACLES ARE NOT ENOUGH--Traveling to Brazil, this program observes the explosion of theological debate, social activism and spiritual revival that is changing a region where religion has long played an important role in society and politics. --Traveling to Brazil, this program observes the explosion of theological debate, social activism and spiritual revival that is changing a region where religion has long played an important role in society and politics.
107 BUILDERS OF IMAGES--This program celebrates the creative energy that enlivens all forms of artistic expression in Latin America and the Caribbean. The complex, distinctive and increasingly influential artistic "voice" of the Americas is seen in the works of four gifted individuals: a Puerto Rican writer, a Brazilian popular music star, a Mexican actress and an Argentine film director.
108 GET UP, STAND UP--This program travels to Colombia, Jamaica and Panama to look at ways the Americas have tried to control their own destinies. Guerrilla movements, narco- terrorism, international economic pressures and military intervention are just some of the internal and external threats to national sovereignty that these nations have faced.
109 FIRE IN THE MIND--Successful revolutions in Latin America have been rare--but influential. This program looks at revolutionaries in the region today, with a special emphasis on the former guerrilla fighters in El Salvador and the current movement in Peru, and links these movements to the revolutions in Cuba and Nicaragua.
110 THE AMERICANS--This last episode returns to the United States to profile California's Mexican-American population and the Latin American and Caribbean communities of Miami and New York City. Within the next decade, peoples of Latin American and Caribbean heritage will form the largest minority group within the United States. This program poses questions about assimilation, national identity and how these communities are changing what it means to be an American.
Series release date: 1/1993

Program Description

Traveling to Brazil, this program observes the explosion of theological debate, social activism and spiritual revival that is changing a region where religion has long played an important role in society and politics.